Scotland Yard officers cuffed a 51-year-old man this morning on suspicion of handling stolen goods in relation to its investigation of alleged computer hacking.

That arrest is the eighth one under Operation Tuleta, which is a probe into criminal breaches of privacy being carried out in tandem with the ongoing phone-hacking inquiry (Op Weeting) that has engulfed News International, the Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper publishing arm of News Corporation.

The Met confirmed that the unnamed man is a journalist who is currently attending a central London police station by appointment.

Scotland Yard said in a statement:

The arrest relates to a suspected conspiracy involving the gathering of data from stolen mobile phones and is not about seeking journalists to reveal confidential sources in relation to information that has been obtained legitimately.